The Experiences of Adults with an Intellectual and Developmental Disability

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Literature Review
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) are the differences that occur and are visible during the birth of a child, which affect their physical and emotional development and how they communicate with other people. As of 2016, 7.37 million people had IDD in the United States alone; the disease starts any time before a person turns 18 years of age and lasts throughout her life (Danielle 123). It is understood as problems of both intellectual functioning and intelligence that include the ability to learn, reason carefully, problem-solve, and perform other adaptive behaviors, which include everyday social life skills. They usually affect multiple body parts and one’s system of functioning in day-to-day activities (Rinita 108). The common types of intellectual developmental disabilities are fetal alcohol syndrome, Autism, down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and Prada-Willi syndrome (Eilidh 74). In this paper, different perspectives on how IDD affects human beings in terms of social interactions will be considered.

Literature Review

Social Inclusion

Social inclusion is one positive way in which individuals with Intellectual and developmental disabilities can be helped. It is important for a person to feel valued and secure an opportunity to lead a much better life (Eilidh 56). In the past, it was proven more than once that it makes people feel connected with others and accepted in society. Social inclusion helps people with IDD develop strong personal relationships, find places and independent housing with the correct support they may need, and get used to socializing. They get involved in recreational, leisure, and volunteer activities that match their interests and choices with time. Individuals with IDD report that lack of transportation and funds prevent them from getting a chance to socialize with others in the community. This makes it harder for them to get jobs that benefit them as they are termed as ‘special’ people (Eilidh 91). Mentoring individuals by listening to them is the best way to try to make them feel involved and part of this world.

Stigmatization Around Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

People who have intellectual and developmental disabilities IDDs everywhere have a stigma that will limit social inclusion as it reduces interaction with the general public. Stigma and abandonment always have bad consequences for people’s socialization, mental well-being, and quality of life; henceforth, the goodness of making and implementing a certain intervention to promote community acceptability and participation of people with IDD (Eric Emersion 19). This includes discrimination and being left out in various ways, which often reflects the way one is feeling or doing anything within a given community. It is huge and weird as individuals’ feelings are different, depending on their circumstances (Danielle 66). The different types of stigmas mainly include public, self, and affiliated stigma.

People researching find that in most issues, cultural values, norms, and things we do add to how stigma is felt with persons having IDD, also approach to increasing community. Acceptability and belongingness are noted in patients with IDD, and his/her families in third-world countries always seem to experience higher stigmatization due to unavoidable circumstances (Jansen-Van 177). Adults with IDD are abandoned, then left without a home, and denied the basic right to go to school, healthcare, and work. For stigma to be reduced, recent findings from the IDD literature say that coming in between things such as service accessibility and increasing social networks are not sufficient, and we have to look beyond mere ‘acceptance’ as the end achievement. Instead, people with IDD tell them acceptance is hard work for communities.

Involvement and one’s well-being in various ways bring belongingness to adults who have IDD by involvement in more outdoor workings, talking to people who are like them, assigning roles that matter in the community, and then finding a better place to fit. Good relationships and interactions with people are more important than just being put with others or inviting them and more than making friendships that will last. If people’s acceptance of persons having the disease is the goal for reducing stigma intervention, it’s good to also know most challenges traditional assumptions of communities have. According to Rinita, this can imply normalizing for people, and where getting accessibility to a community depends on culturally putting a good value on independence, productivity, and imbalance of power (44), it is, therefore, important to exchange how the idea of community is made up to be and appreciate its difference and tension by focusing on justice, love, giving out, and embracing diversity to its maximum level.

Independence and production are never the only way to be involved in communities, and therefore, there is need for talks for persons with IDD to be engaged and feel belongingness to one community (Natasha 34). Thus, misconceptions around communities should be handled so that persons having IDD and everyone are accepted and valued for what they are.

The Impact of Best Buddies and The Value of The Buddy Relationship

Keeping in touch with friends as one moves from school to school or even home to home is difficult. People with IDD need to try and communicate with people who understand them; there is a lot of research behind the values of one-to-one friendship connections in this company in Miami, like this one that outlines the argument that says you will be able to find a close bonding with that one person than you would with tens of others [people]. Having one best friend can boost your mental, physical, and social health, help build your self-esteem, and make you successful at work.

In Best Buddies, we also have the warm, soft truth of friendships where people with IDD interact and get to do different works as they help each other understand that everything is okay with all of them. The fact is, when we humans make a good connection with one another, we want to include them in our lives, in the miles and changes that may occur in our day-to-day lives, while having them by our side for different adventures (Hannah 209). This is so true for persons with or without intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A study published in the year 2016 found that antisocial issues, loneliness, and lack of friends present many people with disability in their mentality, with health and well‐being as a triple threat (Eric Emersion 100). Social inclusion may be said to be not only being present in a community but also having a good social connection and investing in different social activities that are being done (Jansen-Van 4). Participating in different types of social work is said to have a positive impact on people with IDD, who mostly feel lonely. When we don’t take the time to invest in a person’s feelings, we run the risk of them feeling lonely and having a false narrative that people with disabilities cannot make or have good friends (Rinita 66). In Best Buddies, the patients get to interact with each other and, therefore, avoid loneliness.

This is also evidenced by the experience of Lizzie Gillen, Best Buddies Chapter President at the University of Maine. “When I was matched with two people, I was constantly feeling left out of the loop and missed multiple opportunities to do things with my buddy because I was left out of the circle of communication” (Jansen-Van 163). Although having multiple people in the friendship seems like a good idea, in theory, there are so many communication and logistical issues that end up hurting the friendship rather than strengthening it.

The organization Best Buddies is committed and aimed at sharing all sorts of different friendship experiences with everyone and anyone involved in their program. But one-to-one friends are what they want to advocate as it is more helpful to adults who have IDD. Research, experience, and best practices over the years have led them to a point where the foundation of their mission is strong.

Conclusion

Although it is a life-long condition, early and current ongoing interventions may improve functioning and enable the person to thrive throughout their lifetime. Once the diagnosis is made, focus on looking at the person’s strengths, needs, and the support they may need to function at home, in school, or even work around the community. Services for people with IDD family members can provide support to allow them to feel included in the communities, such as special schools, vocational programs, daily activities for adults, and housing. Support can also come from families, friends, co-workers, community members, or even from schools.

A diagnosis, most of the time, determines eligibility for services and protection of one’s rights, for example, special education service and home and community services. The American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) states that the main reason for evaluating individuals with intellectual disabilities is to be able to identify them and try to put in place the support system and service to help them thrive anywhere they are throughout their lives.

Works Cited

Danielle N Corell., et al. “The effects of military status and gender on public stigma toward posttraumatic stress disorder”. Stigma and Health, 6(2), 134–142 (2021). Web.

Eilidh. Cage, Troxell-Whitman, Z. Understanding the Reasons, Contexts and Costs of Camouflaging for Autistic Adults. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 1899–1911 (2019). Web.

Emersion, Eric et al. “Loneliness, social support, social isolation and wellbeing among working age adults with and without disability: Cross-sectional study.” Disability and health journal vol. 14,1 (2021): 100965.

Hannah A. Pelleboer-Gunnink et al “Stigma research in the field of intellectual disabilities: a scoping review on the perspective of care providers,” International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 67:3, 168-187 (2021).

Jansen-van Vuuren, J., Aldersey, H.M. Stigma, Acceptance and Belonging for People with IDD Across Cultures. Curr Dev Disord Rep7, 163–172 (2020). Web.

Mitter, Natasha, et al. “Stigma experienced by family members of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: multidimensional construct.” BJPsych open vol. 4,5 332-338.

Rinita Mazumder,., Thompson-Hodgetts, S. Stigmatization of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their Families: a Scoping Study. Rev J Autism Dev Disord 6, 96–107 (2019). Web.

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